Families of 8 missing in Davao de Oro landslide seek retrieval resumption

DAVAO ORIENTAL, Philippines – The families of eight people who are still missing after the devastating February 6 landslide in the mining village of Masara in Davao de Oro province called on the government to resume its search and retrieval operations.

“What about us? Our loved ones have remained buried under the rubble. We don’t know who to ask for help from the government,” Judy Ann Pepito, a sister of one of the missing persons.

Her brother, Junjun Romeo Pepito Jr., is one of the eight people reported missing after the landslide.

The families of the missing landslide victims have mobilized, reaching out to radio stations in Davao de Oro and various popular social media platforms such as “De Oro Today,” urging the government to resume retrieval operations in Barangay Masara, Maco town.

Maco Mayor Volter Rimando announced the termination of search and retrieval operations effective February 22, following half a month of efforts to locate survivors and recover bodies from the landslide site.

According to a statement from the local government of Maco, the 15-day operation resulted in the recovery of 98 bodies, with eight people still unaccounted for.

Rimando said the local incident management team had completed retrieval and debris clearing at ground zero, covering the entire landslide area down to its base.

Ednar Dayanghirang, the regional director of the Office of Civil Defense in the Davao Region, told Rapper on Monday, February 26, that government forensic experts were still working to identify the over a dozen bodies retrieved from the landslide rubble. He said body parts were also found in the area.

“We are still awaiting DNA results because it’s possible that the eight missing individuals could be among the unidentified,” said Dayanghirang.

He said there were 14 unidentified bodies and body parts which could potentially belong to the missing people. – Rappler.com